Professor Peter Gibbs, from the Walter and Eliza Institute in Melbourne, told ABC:

‘For the first time we’re seeing a potential for a blood test that can screen for many types of nasty cancers that up until now, we’ve had to wait until symptoms [arise] and diagnose quite late.’

This is especially useful when dealing with cancers like pancreatic cancer which rarely presents any symptoms until the disease is quite advanced, usually resulting in a death sentence for the patient.

Gibbs said that the blood test is most important for people over the age of 50 and younger adults with a history of cancer in the family.

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It was developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US and is being tested on 10,000 more participants.

Of course, cost will be an issue at the beginning with Gibbs speculating that it could cost up to $1,000 initially.

However, he’s hopeful that like other technologies it will drop to a more affordable figure over time.